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With more than 500 career victories (501 to be exact) now safely tucked under its belt, Springfield College will open its 2007 season on Saturday, September 8th, with a road game at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. at 7:00 p.m., its only night game of the season. That contest will be the first of four straight road games for the Pride. Springfield will, in fact, play a total of six road games, including the first four of the season at Union, Montclair State (Sept. 15), then Empire 8 foes Alfred (Sept. 22), and Utica (Sept. 29).
The Pride will finally host a contest at what
will be newly-resurfaced Benedum Field
Springfield College's playing
field was resurfaced with
FieldTurf during the summer
of 2007.
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against Husson of Bangor, Maine, on October 6th at 1 p.m. The Pride will then embark on another road trip to Montclair State on October 13. Three of the last four games, all Empire 8 league contests, will be played at home. The last four entail hosting league co-titlist St. John Fisher (Oct. 20) and Ithaca (Oct. 27), then traveling to Hartwick (Nov. 3), before hosting Norwich (Nov. 10). The St. John Fisher game will be a combined Homecoming Day and Family and Friends Day, the first of its kind in Springfield College history.
Head Coach Mike DeLong (’74) is coming off a season where he won four Coach of the Year awards for leading his team to a 10-2 overall record, an Empire 8 co-title, and an NCAA post-season tournament berth. He will start the ’07 season as the winningest active Division III coach in New England with 146 victories in 25 years as a head coach. Twenty-three of those years have come right here at Springfield where he has recorded 134 victories, including a sparkling 40-13 mark the past five years. In five of the past nine years (‘98, ’00, ’02, ’03, '06), Springfield teams have gone on to compete in the NCAA Division III Tournament. In ’95 and ’04, Springfield teams won ECAC post-season tournament contests.
Pride individuals received many post-season honors in 2006. highlighted by Chris Sharpe's winning the Melberger Award, emblematic of the National Player of the Year in Division III. The QB established 12 school records and six NCAA Division III national marks on '06. Ten players received All-Empire 8 Conference recognition. Included were five named to the First-Team. Besides Sharpe, they included offensive linemen Adam Feit, a consensus First Team All-American, and Mike Mestieri, linebacker Andrew Madigan, and punter Mike Mahoney. Sharpe also received a bevy of further awards, including the Gold Helmet Award for the season from the New England Football Writers Association, the Joseph P. Zabilski Award from the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston, the ECAC Division III Northwest Offensive Co-Player of the Year, and the Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Year.
Sharpe, a senior, will return in 2007 to lead the offense. In fact, the entire starting backfield, will return intact. Sharpe has already been named a Pre-Season First Team All-American by D3football.com. Senior CB Joe Harasymiak, an honorable mention All-American who had a Springfield College record-tying 10 interceptions last season, will lead the defense. As a team, Springfield has been ranked 9th twice and 14th twice in four pre-season Div. III national polls.
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Football Headlines |
Released |
| 1 | Springfield College Recognizes Outstanding Athletic Year At 2008 Annual Sports Recognition Night | 05/06/2008 | | 2 | Seven Football Players Earn NFF Hampshire Honor Society Membership | 04/16/2008 | | 3 | Gettleman (Giants), Spagnuolo (Giants), Woicik (Patriots) Will Represent Springfield College in Super Bowl XLII | 01/23/2008 | | 4 | Sharpe Named a Captain for Aztec Bowl | 12/07/2007 | | 5 | Football LB Tom Caporale Named All-New England | 11/26/2007 | | 6 | Sharpe Earns His Fourth Gold Helmet Award | 11/15/2007 | | 7 | Gridders Caporale, Harasymiak, Hess Named First Team All-Empire 8 | 11/15/2007 | | 8 | Chris Sharpe Named to the AFCA’s 2007 Aztec Bowl Squad | 11/14/2007 | | 9 | Seniors Shine, Sharpe Ends Stellar Career as Football Rolls Past Norwich, 54-42 | 11/10/2007 | | 10 | Football's Comeback at Hartwick Falls Short, 37-34 | 11/03/2007 | | 11 | Football Falls to Ithaca, 48-21; Walker Runs for 2 TDs | 10/27/2007 | | 12 | Football Falls To No. 8 St. John Fisher, 35-14, Despite Cunningham's 100 Yards Rushing | 10/20/2007 | | 13 | Football to Take on No. 8 St. John Fisher in Homecoming Clash | 10/19/2007 | | 14 | Brockport Slips Past Football, 21-20 | 10/13/2007 | | 15 | Football Runs Past Husson, 42-28 | 10/06/2007 |
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